dibble



W. LAWRENCE & H. V. DIBBLE.

(No Model.)

HAT BRIM.

Patented Aug. 3, 1886.

65,8 6,3 In zrejatwcs with the wire therein.

NITED STATES PATENT Fries.

HAT-BRIM.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 346,593, dated August 3, 1886.

Application filed August 13,1884. Renewed November 23, 1885. Serial No. 183,741. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we,W1LLIAM LAWRENCE and HORACE V. DIBBLE,citizens of the United States, residing at Bethel,in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Hats; and we do hereby declare the'following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention is applicable to all classes of hats in which a wire is used at or near the edge of the brims, and has for its object to produce a means for securing the wire in place at the edge of the brim which shall be simple and inexpensive, but which shall cause the brim to permanently retain the shape to which the wire may have been formed, the principal requirements being that the wire shall be firmly held in place, so that it cannot slip around, but will retain its position, which is preferably at the edge, or nearit; that the location of the wire shall be practically concealed, and that it shall be so effectually covered as to be in no danger of becoming exposed by the wearing away of the binding in use.

IVith these ends in view our invention consists in the novel system of securing the wire and finishing the brim, which we will now proceed to describe, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the stay-piece Fig. 2 is a section of a portion of a hat, showing clearly the manner of the application of the staypiece and the binding at the edge of the brim. Figs. 3 andd are sections of brims, showing the wire placed at one side of the center of the stay-piece, so that when the latter is secured in place the wire will be either on the upper or under side of the curl of the brim.

A represents the stay-piece, and 13 a wire secured therein, preferably at the center, although it may be placed anywhere in the staypiece. This wire we either weave into the stay-piece in the process of manufacture or else weave a pocket therein, into which the 0 hats to use reeds, stiff cords, &c., as substitutes for wire.

In applying the stay-piece it is out to the proper length, the wire placed at or near the,

edge of the brim F, as may be desired, and

the material of the stay-piece pressed down on opposite sides of the brim, where it is secured by a seam, O, passing through both edges of the stay-piece and the brim. It will, of course, be understood that the wire is surrounded and practically covered by the weftthreads of the stay-piece-that is to say, half the wefts are upon one side and half upon the other, whether the wire is woven in or a pocket made and the wire run in afterward.

In either case the wire is held firmly in place after the stay-piece is attached to the brim. Having stitched the stay-piece with its wirein place, the brim remains to be completed by binding in any ordinary manner.

D represents the binding, which wholly covers the stay-piece and the wire, and preferably is attached by a seam, E, which passes through both thicknesses of the binding and through the brim F, as clearly shown in Figs.

2, 3, and 4. 8-0

It is, of course, not necessary that either the stay piece or the binding be stitched upon the brim of the hat, as either or both of them maybe secured by cementing them in place. stay-piece and binding in place by stitching through the brim, as shown.

It is obvious that our invention is equally applicable to all classes of hats, whet-her stiff, half-stiff, or soft. function of the wire is simply to assist in holding the brim in'proper shape. In soft hats, however, the wire is depended on to hold the brim to the shape which it is desired to have it retain. 95

Having thus described our invention, we claim- The combination, with the brim of a hat, of

We preferably, however, secure both In the first two classes the 0 a. stay-piece adapted to lie on both sides of In testimonywhereof we afiix our signatures thedbrim, and having a wire woven therein, in presence of two witnesse3.

sai stay-piece being adapted to be secured 7 T in place by stitching through both edges lzhereof and through the brim, and a binding secured on opposite sides of the brim, which \Vitnesses:

wholly c vers the stay-piece, wire, and stitch- A. M. \VOOSTER,

ing. A. B. FAIROHILD. 

